Graham Platner Accused of Sexual Assault In Explosive Politico Report

Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via AP

Democratic Party Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner was accused of sexual assault by a woman he dated some five years ago, in a bombshell report from Politico on Monday.

“The woman, a 41-year-old Maine resident named Jenny Racicot, detailed the alleged incident to POLITICO in three interviews over the past two weeks,” Politico reported, adding:

POLITICO also spoke with a man Racicot dated and confided in the years after the alleged incident, and reviewed documents, including emails between Racicot and her therapist and messages between Racicot and an acquaintance whom she warned against getting involved with Platner years before he ran for office.

Platner denied the allegation, telling the outlet, “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”

The report by Jessica Piper and Adam Wren came after days of Platner’s campaign cancelling events, including for the 4th of July, saying that the candidate was “not feeling well.” The report details in graphic detail the alleged assault, recounted by Racicot:

Racicot said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner, who is now the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, for more than two years before he entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night in late 2021, deeply intoxicated, and forced himself on her while she repeatedly told him to stop. She said she cut off contact with him after telling him the encounter was not consensual.

Platner’s campaign has been plagued by scandal since he jumped into the race. Revelations of bigoted and bombastic social media posts were first reported on by CNN and were later followed by the shock disclosure that Platner had a notorious Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest.

Platner denied knowing the symbol was related to Nazis, but that was widely rebuked by people close to him, including past girlfriends who say he told them the symbol had Nazi associations.

In early June, the New York Times reported that several women who dated Platner in the past found his behavior “unsettling.” The Times reported that the women said Platner “could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful.”

Quickly following the publication of the Politico report, Platner released a video clip again denying the allegations, but adding that he would take time to “reflect on the best way forward.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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